The FALDP Docket

Volume 13 Issue 9; September 2023

Stay up to date, and in the know. We publish this for the benefit of FALDP members, legal document preparers, and friends. Published monthly since May, 2010

FALDP FREEDOM CONFERENCE - 2023

Our 14th Annual Conference was on September 9, in Daytona Beach, FL.

From the Director, Ruth Tick

The conference was truly fun and informative as promised. Unfortunately our speaker, Scott Hedrick, had to cancel due to hurricane damage at his house. So, I covered his presentation on Legal Access as well as my presentation.

Chardo Richardson's presentation about protected commercial speech was both interesting and entertaining. We're in the process of converting his power point presentation into a video so everyone can see it. Once I finish it, I'll post it on the You Tube channel.

Some conference highlights:

We learned from Chardo's presentation that unless there is a compelling reason, commercial speech is protected. The compelling reason is almost always consumer harm, as it should be.

BUT:

I presented about Access to the Legal System. I concluded that presentation with the following: "Florida legal document preparers often must tread a careful line between providing their services to consumers who want and need their services; and avoiding accusations of violating the laws surrounding the unlicensed practice of law. A conviction for the unlicensed practice of law in Florida is a third degree felony; sentences may include fines and incarceration.
The Florida Bar's infringement on the rights of legal document preparers to earn a living; to enter contracts; and to provide services in the marketplace; is collateral damage. The actual damage in these laws is to the consumer. It is the consumer who would seek assistance in asserting his rights through the court system who suffers. The court system, fraught with jargon, and complicated procedure; can bring dire consequences to people who can find no help at all."

I also spoke about the Upsolve case, a case I am very excited about. Briefly, Upsolve is a nonprofit in New York. They were helping low income and indigent people with bankruptcy petitions but wanted to do more. The NY courts publish a check off answer form for consumers to use when they are sued for a debt. The answer form includes affirmative defenses, written in plain language. But people were still struggling to understand how to respond to the lawsuits for debt. Like Florida, around 70% of lawsuits for debt end up in a default. A default then results in a money judgment against the defendant for failing to answer. So, Upsolve wanted to be able to explain to people how to answer. But that would require legal advice, and Upsolve volunteers are not lawyers. So, Upsolve filed a petition for an injunction to prevent the NY Bar from prosecuting them for UPL when they advised consumers how to answer these lawsuits for debt. AND THEY WON THE RIGHT.

In the afternoon, we broke into groups. Each group was assigned a topic to discuss. The three groups were about: Artificial Intelligence; FALDP Improvements; and Can we emulate the Upsolve case here?

There is a lot more information I want to share about the conference and the changes we are making with FALDP. Please be sure to keep an eye on the website and on our Facebook Page. I can't cover everything I'd like to in this newsletter today.

Avoid UPL! Course

Earn an Extra CEU by taking this course by 10/31.

Don't forget. New members should take the Avoid UPL! course within 30 days of joining. We require all members to take the Avoid UPL! Course each year. We add, or edit some content throughout the year, but make no effort to entertain members with all fresh and new information.

We hope members will internalize the main points through repetition. In addition, you may discover something new that had not caught your attention before. We admit that some of the information seems trivial. Learn it anyway. Your goal is to Avoid UPL, you don't need to agree with all of the rules.

We discussed at the conference how to encourage more compliance with our rule of taking the Avoid UPL! Course annually as a condition of membership. We're going to start with a reward, before we move to any other methods to gain compliance.

We literally designed this course to:

KEEP YOU SAFE IN THE MARKETPLACE

Zoom Meetings

The Zoom scheduled for the last Saturday of this month (8/26 @ 11:00 am EST) is "Taking Your Business to the Next Level". Members can get ideas about how to grow their businesses regardless of where they are now. The information at this meeting will benefit you whether you are just starting out, or seeking to grow your business. Attend if you can, you'll be glad you did.
Remember, our Saturday conferences are valued at one continuing education unit.

Our After Hours Zooms are held the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm EST. You can look ahead at the upcoming topics for our Saturday Zooms here - Training-webinars.html We email invitations in advance of each Zoom Webinar to all members. We also post the invitation inside our private Facebook Group. After our meetings we post information related to the meeting inside the Members Only area.

FALDP on Social Media and Beyond

Follow FALDP on Instagram. Our Instagram account is relatively new, and not a lot of followers. Help us solve that by following us and liking our posts. Instagram - Faldp Ruth Tick Please visit our FALDP Facebook Page We regularly post content and accept member submissions. Also, please like and follow.

And, we regularly create our explainer and marketing videos which first appear on our FALDP on YouTube channel FALDP members are permitted to share our video content to your site and social media. We only ask that you refrain from editing our videos, and be sure to provide proper attribution. And, don't forget to subscribe!

WE NOW HAVE OVER 100 YOUTUBE FOLLOWERS
THANK YOU!

Spanish & English Parenting Course

Did you know that FALDP members can receive $3.00 for each referral to either version of the Parenting Course?

Prices are: $29.99 and $14.99 for low income. Here's the link directly to the Spanish version - spanish parenting course And here it is for the English version Parenting Course

Parental Education and Family Stabilization Course is mandatory for all divorcing couples who have children; and all people seeking a paternity action.

Don't have a site yet? Try Monarch Web Strategies

Horizon Research Network is one of our associated sites which includes our design services. We build business websites for FALDP members for only $150 - set up; and $100. per page; and includes your domain name and first month's hosting. And, have you seen our whiteboard videos online? We can create a custom whiteboard video to promote your business. Once built its yours to use in any of your advertising or promotions. Contact us for a custom quote.

FALDP Private Facebook Group

About one third of our membership has joined the FALDP private Facebook group. We created it to make it easier to interact with each other. So far, people have given work referrals to one another; asked questions to the group; received help in locating a form; and discussed various issues. If you're working toward FALDP Certification, you earn one CEU just by joining the group. So, what are you waiting for? Look for the private group after going to the official FALDP Facebook page at FALDP,LLC on Facebook.

Member's Announcements & Contributions

Have something to share?

We accept member's announcements and appreciate your contributions. If you have an announcement about your business, an expansion of services, moving your offices, or winning awards, please send us the information and we'll include it in our newsletter. Your announcement needs to be pertinent to your business. We are unable to include announcements about other trade associations, clubs or groups.

If you would like to write an article, editorial, opinion piece, or web page please let us know. We are always in need of fresh information and insights.

FALDP Contact Information:
Main number – (941)237-0951
Toll free - (800)515-0496
Email – staff@faldp.org

PLEASE LINK YOUR SITE TO WWW.FALDP.ORG

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